老人家 (lǎo ren jia) — polite term for an elderly person (especially s…

Definition

A polite, warm term for an elderly person. 老太太 is more specific — used only for an older woman and can refer to one's own mother/mother-in-law.

noun

polite term for an elderly person (especially someone else's parent or grandparent)

Measure word · 位

老人家，。
lǎo ren jia, Nín xiān qǐng zuò.
Elderly sir/madam, please have a seat first.
老人家。
Nà wèi lǎo ren jia měi tiān dōu qù gōng yuán sàn bù.
That elderly person goes for a walk in the park every day.
老人家，。
lǎo ren jia Shēn tǐ bù hǎo, xū yào duō xiū xi.
The elderly person is not in good health and needs more rest.

Derived word

构词法gòucífǎ

后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

老人elderly person

偏正Modifier + head

老人 means an elderly person; 家 gives it a respectful, familiar tone.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

宀宀miánroof

Sound part声符shēngfú

𢑓

𢑓𢑓家jiā

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Appears in